“The name of my album is called The College Dropout,” he said of his debut. “All that’s saying is make your own decisions. Don’t let society tell you, ‘This is what you have to do.’ Society told me, ‘Man, don’t move from Chicago.’ People told me to stay in school, this music is this, this music is that. I listen to John Mayer, and his song ‘No Such Thing’ is exactly what my [philosophy] is about, but in different words.”

Made from a Louis Vuitton backpack filled with old disks and demos and beats which are said to have been collected by Kanye for years, an album came out with more soul than The Commodores and James Brown. Boasting of possibly the best production Kanye has ever done, a new workout plan and a song he did through the wire — literally — this is The College Dropout. From a guy called West.

With 10 Grammy Nominations including a win for Best Rap Album, this album is hailed as one of the best albums of the Decade and one of the best debut Hip Hop Albums of all time. One may even go on to say that the verses he dropped on this album — in comparison to New Slaves — were the best of all time.